Monday, December 31, 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Didn't see this online in October. Larry Smith had a number of children's' series on Cincinnati area television between the mid-fifties and the late nineties! He sometimes shopped in my store in the nineties as well. I finally got to meet him officially in 2007...and he had Hattie the Witch with him!!!!

Here's a brief interview with writer Peter David, whom our son is named after. Peter suffered a stroke while on vacation this weekend and we're awaiting more info. He's blogging about it himself at least but still...Send as many best wishes his way as you can muster.

From the director of THE STING! Diane Lane's first film. The humor is intelligent, the emotions genuine, the locations gorgeous and Lord Olivier chews the scenery even better than HE had ever done before! My favorite film of 1979...which was a pretty big year in film!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Snow expected this weekend reminded me of this. I remember going to this Convention, the second I ever attended. It snowed heavily that Saturday but it was close enough (about 8 blocks) that I trudged through the snow to get there and then later trudged back with an armload of goodies!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Here are some ads from a handsome celebrity endorsement ad campaign for Blatz Beer in the 1950's. Blatz sponsored radio's DUFFY'S TAVERN logically but briefly during this period. Watch for Martin Grams' long-awaited history of DUFFY'S TAVERN coming in 2013. I'm proofreading it for him now!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Saturday, December 15, 2012

I don't do Decembers well. Both my parents died in December. This year, the money's running low again, there are sudden unexpected computer issues, I'm having major sleeping problems and scrambling to catch up on three good-sized projects. Then yesterday's shooting hit me hard. Need to take a break, at least on this blog. Probably be back in a few days, definitely before Christmas. In the meantime, be good to yourselves.

Both pieces of artwork here were created last night using a combination of Paintbrush, IPhoto and FotoFlexer.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Yes, it's emotionally hurting and damaged people who often commit gun violence...but the guns, even if you think of them as just tools, definitely aid them in doing so. And yes, there are plenty of gun laws on the books already...but if you've noticed, they aren't stopping the problem. How many more children need to die? How many more once-good people need to commit unspeakable acts? How long before we say "ENOUGH!" and change the talk from who's right or wrong about guns to talk about stopping the insanity that they can foster? Serious issues call for serious discussions and not political powerplays. Maybe this time? I doubt it. Maybe next time...

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

So I'm preparing a piece on Craig Yoe's latest volume, COMICS ABOUT CARTOONISTS when I run across this page. It's a 1948 HEY LOOK! one-pager by Harvey Kurtzman that spoofs the art styles of Will Eisner, Al Capp, Chester Gould and Chic Young much the way he would have Will Elder and Wally Wood do it a few years later in EC's early MAD comics.

Lots of other nifty stuff in COMICS ABOUT CARTOONISTS as well. Look for full coverage coming later this week.

Sounding better than they have in decades, The Rolling Stones took to the stage late this year in celebration of their 50th anniversary and trotted out long ignored numbers like this psychedelic-era gem.

Shirley Booth was a long-respected Broadway star as well as the creator of the role of "Miss Duffy" on radio's DUFFY'S TAVERN when she took on the role of Ted Key's perfect maid, Hazel, in the sixties and became forever associated with that character.

Sellers rarely did serious interviews but in 1974 after a career downslide and just before his biggest comeback, he sat down for a fun conversation with chat show legend Michael Parkinson. Here's a longish excerpt. The full interview was later released as a record album.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

A little late but here are some highlights from this month's update on BOOKSTEVE RARITIES. Thousands of ultra-rare items on DVD but here's a few new ones just in time for the holiday.

HOLLYWOOD SCREEN TESTS (Volume One)

Yes, we plan to have a volume two next month. Here you get to see screen tests for Hollywood stars trying out for roles they never got and roles they did win. Candice Bergen, Mia Farrow auditions for Liesl in The Sound of Music, Patty Duke, Mia Farrow, Ann-Margaret, Raquel Welch and James Coburn cavort in a screen test for Our Man Flint, Sharon Tate, Albert Finney, Sean Connery’s 1957 screen test for The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Marlon Brando tests for Viva Zapata!, Dustin Hoffman, Rich Little, Adam West and Burt Ward (yes, Batman), Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, Yvonne Craig, Angela Cartwright, Christopher Plummer, Andy Williams, Pat Boone, The Sound of Music screen tests, Mitzi Gaynor and other surprises.

ESPIONAGE IN TANGIERS (1965)

George Lazenby's first movie role. Spanish/Italian made European James Bond style spy thriller. When a professor's powerful invention, a molecular disintegration weapon is stolen, it's up to super cool agent 077 Mike Murphy to retrieve the dangerous tool and take care of the potential evildoers. Filled with fights, car chases, gadgetry and beautiful women, this spy adventure helped create an action/spy mini-genre craze in Europe in the mid 1960's along with the first three James Bond films.

KEN MAYNARD WESTERN CLASSICS

Seven classic Westerns starring Ken Maynard! Three DVD box set includes the following:

"The Fiddlin' Buckaroo" (1933)

"In Old Santa Fe" (1934)

"Lawless Riders" (1935)

"Western Frontier" (1935)

"Fighting Thru" (1930)

"The Trail Drive" (1933)

"Heir to Trouble" (1935) $15.00

THE FILMS OF MONTE BANKS (1923-24)

Four rare film shorts starring Monte Banks. THE COVERED SCHOONER (1923), WEDDING BELLS (1924), PAY OR MOVE (1924) and GOLF BUG (1924). Monte Banks was a silent scree comedian who has yet to make his name, overshadowed by such genius as Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. Here's your chance to watch four classics (92 minutes total).

LLOYD HAMILTON COMEDY SHORTS

Being one of numerous important comedians during the silent era whose popularity has turned into almost complete obscurity, Lloyd Hamilton has nevertheless earned a reputation as an original talent among film historians and enthusiasts. Here's your chance to watch five of his famous talkies. DON'T BE NERVOUS (1929), PRIZE PUPPIES (1930), DOUBLING IN THE QUICKIES (1932), FALSE IMPRESSIONS (1932) and POP'S PAL (1933)

JOE BESSER AND JOE DERITA COMEDY CLASSICS

All four comedy film shorts from 1946 to 1948 starring Joe DeRita, and all 10 Joe Besser solo film shorts from 1949 to 1956. If you love the Three Stooges, you'll love watching these digitally-remastered classics on DVD!

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS FILM SHORTS

A collection of ten film shorts with a nostalgic peek into the Yuletide pleasures of the early 1900s. Included on this disc is Edison's A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1910), A CHRISTMAS ACCIDENT (1912), A WINTER STRAW RIDE (1906), A TRAP FOR SANTA (1909), A HOLIDAY PAGEANT AT HOME (1901), SANTA CLAUS vs. CUPID (1915), SANTA CLAUS (1925), THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1905), THE ADVENTURE OF THE WRONG SANTA CLAUS (1914).

Friday, December 07, 2012

My friend Allen Singer writes books. Not just any books,
mind you, but Arcadia Books! You know the ones--those sepia-toned regional
history titles that have dotted much of the US for the past decade or so now.

In fact, Allen's first book from 2003 has at times been one
of their best-selling ones in this area. The thing is, it deserves a wider
audience because of it's fascinating subject. That book is THE CINCINNATI
SUBWAY, the first book to take any kind of in-depth look at the near-mythical
Queen City underground transit system that never was.

You see, Cincinnati was all poised to run with the bigger
cities with railroad rapid transit like you'd find in New York or Boston or
Chicago or even Cleveland! But then the well ran dry and through politics,
Depressions and Wars the entire project was backburnered and eventually abandoned.
BUT...not before leaving a number of tunnels and even stations to fire one's
imagination!

There was often talk of getting back to the Subway project
but as decades flew by, it became cheaper for everyone involved to simply
maintain it as a bunch of holes in the ground rather than finish it or even
fill them in.

As a kid, I used to see the tunnel entrances alongside
roads, all overgrown and barred off. I had no clue what they were, though. I
used to imagine them to be dank, dark dungeons. In fact, my first knowledge of
the ghost subway came from a PM MAGAZINE news report in 1981. I was immediately
spellbound! I wanted to know more but little more was forthcoming for another
20 years or so.

Then came Allen. Long interested in railroads, I remember
him telling me that he was researching the abandoned Cincinnati subway system
long before it seemed likely he would ever craft a book out of that info.

But he did.

In a little more than 125 heavily illustrated pages, Allen
gives a basic background history on rapid transit in the Ohio Valley and then
fits in the whole convoluted story of the non-existent subway. Those familiar
with the Arcadia books will know that their standard format allows the plethora
of highly annotated historic and rare photographs to tell the story on a wholly
separate level than just the well-researched text. In the case of this
particular story, that means scores of amazing photos that hadn't seen the
light of day since the original construction as well as some, I believe, taken
exclusively for this book!

Not satisfied with just telling the story up until it
seemingly ended, Allen goes on into each subsequent decade, covering constantly
stillborn plans to revive the project as well as plans to turn what was already
there into everything from a wine cellar to an underground shopping district!

Even if you've never set foot in Cincinnati, Allen Singer's
book, THE CINCINNATI SUBWAY is an amazing and enjoyable read filled with
stunning and eerie images.

One of Allen's other Arcadia books is a sort of companion
volume, CINCINNATI ON THE GO, which covers the forms of mass transit that
Ohio's Queen City ended up with before, after and instead of the subway. If
you're a transportation buff or have one on your Christmas list, I recommend
the one-two punch of both books for a fuller picture of the whole story.

Entertainment fans will appreciate my friend's remaining two
volumes as both deal with various aspects of show business in The Ohio Valley.

STEPPING OUT IN CINCINNATI (of which I helped edit one
chapter) covers Vaudeville, Burlesque, nightclubs and, most fun of all, the
great movie palaces of the area, again in the standard Arcadia format so there
are tons of heavily annotated photos of long gone theaters. There are also
tales of speakeasies, gangsters and celebrities, with little-seen photos of
local, national and international entertainers.

His most recent volume takes this area's best-known
nightclub, the ill-fated BEVERLY HILLS COUNTRY CLUB, and spotlights the memories
and ultra-rare insider photos of a man who actually worked there during the
club's peak years as one of the major stops for anyone who was anyone in show
biz. This is NOT the story of the fire that eventually and tragically burned
the place to the ground and took so many lives. No, this is the story of the
jumpin', jivin' swinging years when The Beverly Hills really could be termed
the showplace of the nation!

Thursday, December 06, 2012

One of my favorite sixties films is DANGER: DIABOLIK. Tim Lucas, who accompanies star John Phillip Law in a great DVD commentary on one version released in the past decade, posted the above image today on Facebook. There have been a couple other images related to this on other blogs in recent years but no one seemed to know what it was that they had.

Tim points out that this is, in fact, Jean Sorel and Elsa Martinelli in an aborted 1964 Seth Holt version that presumably never got beyond the promo stills phase.

Eventually, of course, we ended up with John Phillip Law and Marisa Mell in Mario Bava's colorful cult classic pop art version seen below.

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Yesterday, I absentmindedly made the above in Mac Paintbrush while chatting with my son. Originally, I thought they were stylized candles.

But I'm in a superimposing phase right now so I used Fotoflexer to superimpose a slightly smaller, faded version. It started to look like a city to me.

So I used Fotoflexer's various special effects in multiple combinations until I got an effect I liked and that I thought really gave the impression of a city. I posted it on Facebook but I still wasn't satisfied with it, though.

So back to Paintbrush where I flipped the second image, recolored it and actually added to it.

I then superimposed the original and the second on top of the third (yellow) image to create this shimmering effect. I liked it but it looked less like a city than before.

Finally I ended up in IPhoto where I darkened the last image, highlighted various aspects via trial and error and then gave it the deep, wood look you see here which, to me, looks like a smoggy city with skyscrapers and cars and smokestacks.

Monday, December 03, 2012

This is a little naughty but hilarious--a review of Craig Yoe's new novelty book, LITTLE PENIS. I told Craig if this didn't sell the book, nothing would! I thought my wife would never stop pointing and laughing!

Saturday, December 01, 2012

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD--I think I've figured it out, fellow Whovians! The Doctor meets young Clara (played by Jenna-Louise Coleman) in Victorian England. He does NOT see her as resembling the trapped Oswin Oswald from the current season opener in any way since he never actually SAW Oswin and what WE saw was just in Oswin's own head, even. Something happens that will likely kill Clara and The Doctor doesn't want that to happen. He determines he can save her but only by melding her mind with someone else's, similar to what had been done wit Donna. Where to find

a mind that wouldn't itself be damaged by doing that? Hmmm...Then he remembers Oswin and manages somehow to pluck her mind out of its Dalek shell just prior to her death but AFTER her adventure with The Doctor and stick it in Clara's head. The two minds heal each other giving Clara Oswin...or rather Clara/Oswin!...both a bit of Victorian naiveté and traces of being the sarcastic computer genius we all fell so quickly in love with as well!

About Me

First published in 1968 (I was 9!), I have been writing professionally part-time for more than two decades. I have been freelancing for various authors, editors and publishers for the past three years on the behind-the-scenes tasks of writing.